


Kings and Queens

by Jackson_Overland_Frost



Series: The ColdHands Project [3]
Category: Danny Phantom
Genre: Aromantic Sam Manson, Asexual Sam Manson, Clockwork is Cryptic as usual, Crown of Fire (Danny Phantom), Danny Fenton doesn’t want to be Ghost King, Gen, Ghost King Danny Fenton, Ghost Politics, Not Phantom Planet Compliant (Danny Phantom), Post-Canon, Ring of Rage (Danny Phantom), The Ghost Queen, Vlad is an asshole, but shockingly helpful, no beta-reader
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2020-09-26
Packaged: 2021-03-06 21:48:26
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,806
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26175979
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jackson_Overland_Frost/pseuds/Jackson_Overland_Frost
Summary: When Danny Fenton defeated Pariah Dark in freshman year, he became the king of the ghost zone — though he didn’t know it at the time. Danny has no need or want for the position of Ghost King, even after all these years, but he has nobody else to grant the position to. At a loss, he goes to visit Clockwork for answers.[part of a series, but written to stand alone]
Relationships: Clockwork & Danny Fenton, Clockwork & Original Female Character, Danny Fenton & Original Character(s), Danny Fenton & Tucker Foley & Sam Manson, Danny Fenton & Vlad Masters, Fright Knight & Vlad Masters
Series: The ColdHands Project [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1364842
Comments: 8
Kudos: 73





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I love all our ghost king!Danny shenanigans, but it’s a little much for him, I think. Here’s my own take on what goes down before Danny has to go off to university~
> 
> And to the people that have been waiting patiently for this one, thanks to you guys too. <3

Ever since Danny had defeated Pariah Dark in freshman year, he had effectively been the reigning Ghost King. Not that he had known that until much more recently, since the Ancients hadn’t seen fit to actually tell him that he was now royalty. Since then though, Princess Dora has been helping him with all the technical parts of ruling the Ghost Zone, while he tried to stay in school and acted more as a diplomat and champion than anything else. He had planned to take over properly once he graduated high school, and hopefully take a gap year in order to spend a year getting used to all of his duties. 

He should have predicted that his university was never going to grant him his deferral though, not when he couldn’t tell them the real reason that he needed to. After some time reflecting (and banging on the wall out of frustration), Danny had realized that he never really wanted to be the Ghost King anyways, and was only doing so for the good of the realm and because he felt like he had to. Even if he did so, he wasn’t the best at handling so much responsibility or making decisions that would affect the whole zone. Not to mention that before he had an entire team helping him — his family and friends, the Red Huntress, Danielle when she dropped by, even Vlad at times — he had tried to do everything at once, and his  _ everything _ suffered a lot for it. Danny definitely didn’t want to chance the same thing happening at college….. which meant he needed someone to pawn his responsibilities onto. 

The title of Ghost King couldn’t just be rewarded to anyone though, and Danny needed someone he could trust to run the place long-term. He had no wish to take the position back after he graduated, after all, but the Ghost Zone had to be taken care of. 

Princess Dora, who had been helping him for the past few years, had been his first and only candidate, and had immediately declined. She had her own kingdom to run, and other responsibilities to take care of, and even though she had been happy to help him out with her ruling expertise, Dora didn’t actually want the position. Danny hadn’t pushed it — it would be better if the ruler of the ghost zone actually wanted to be there. Still, there was nobody else he could think of to ask, which was why he had come to his last resort: asking Clockwork.

Clockwork’s Tower was a common destination for him, and the flight through the Ghost Zone felt familiar as always. It seemed shorter every time as well, no matter what portal he entered from. Soon, visible through the GZ’s fog, rose the Clocktower, along with its dozens of floating, giant green cogs. What was even the point of those, really? Danny always forgot to ask, and when he remembered, Clockwork just deflected the question in that annoying, cryptic way that he did. 

Glancing quickly around to make sure there were no other ghosts around to see Phantom enter the citadel, he flew quickly inside.

The citadel was empty, no Clockwork in sight, which was a little bit strange. Danny decided to stick around and wait rather than going off and trying to find the guy, figuring that CW had to show up sooner or later anyways, and it would be easier to wait that look through the entire Ghost Zone. 

While he was waiting, Danny went to go take a look in all the different rooms of the citadel, just to see what was going on. He walked through them idly, walking up to the portals only to find nothing but swirling green mist. Most rooms were empty as usual, but in one of the portal rooms, there was a scrap-book open on the little stand just in front of the time portal. It didn’t really seem like anything Clockwork would make, if CW made scrap-books — it was more just like, very sweet and nice. 

Danny kept the page with his finger and looked at the cover, which was dark brown leather with golden stars embroidered all over it, and a little golden space-ship in the bottom corner. The page that it had been opened to had two pictures that looked like they were taken right after each other, both of the same lady. 

Her skin was dark gray, and her hair was pale green, pulled back into a bun with a few wisps escaping to frame her high cheekbones. Besides a pair of dark green fins trailing from behind her ears to the sides of her neck, as well as the off color palette, she looked rather human. She was wearing some kind of high-collared white cloak with a blue lining, over a long dress that turned into a ghostly tail — also in white. In the first photo, she was sitting on a throne looking regal and professional, her hands in her lap as she looked into the camera. In the second, she had burst into laughter and was half bent-over her lap, dark eyes closed in mirth. 

What really caught Danny’s attention, however, was the crown that was floating just above her head. A specific crown. The Crown of Fire. He supposed that it made sense for the crown not to have originated with Pariah Dark, if it was some powerful relic that was passed down through the Ghost Monarchy, or something. But if that was the case, then  _ who exactly  _ was this lady?

There were no more clues in the pictures themselves, though he managed to recognize the background as the throne room in Pariah’s Keep (though Danny also supposed that couldn’t be it’s original name). Instead, the writing on the paper around the photos caught his attention. 

_ Queen Cassiopeia’s reaction after a visiting friend came in dressed in rags while she was holding her audience.  _ Read Clockwork’s handwriting.  _ Last images of her taken before the reign of Pariah Dark. _

Danny traced his fingers over the ink curiously, wondering what her connection to Clockwork was. Likely they were close friends, considering his mentor kept pictures of her in the Tower, but what had happened to her?

In front of the stand, the portal swirled and the ectoplasm fogged and then cleared again, showing the scene in the photos. The Queen laughed and swiped the back of her wrist across her eyes with a grin, standing up. 

“Time, old friend! It’s been some time!” She said, walking towards the screen. Danny’s view of the scene panned out, showing Clockwork dressed in a tattered off-white cloak and kneeling in front of the throne. “Don’t kneel for me — you taught me everything I know, there’s simply no need.” 

“Queen Cassiopeia, it’s good to be back. I see that you’ve done well in my absence.” Clockwork, notably, did not stand. 

“Only as well as I could without you as my advisor, Time. I trust that you will be stepping back into that position now that you’ve returned?” She touched the crown of his head with a smile, and he rose to… standing? Danny wasn’t sure what it was called when you had no legs, but Clockwork rose to his full height. 

“Unfortunately, I will have to refuse the offer, your majesty. I’m afraid I will be returning to the Clocktower this afternoon for a meeting with the Observants.” CW smiled, almost sheepishly. “Ever since they came into power as observers of the time stream, they have been bugging me to go talk business with them. I finally accepted the offer. Deepest apologies.” 

“Is this something to do with keeping the balance, or everything you’re always on about?” The Queen asked suspiciously. 

“I’m afraid so.” 

One of the guards at the door coughed conspicuously, and Queen Cassiopeia sighed. “I gotta continue with throne room time, so you can go ahead and take your leave, Time. You know where all of the accommodations are in the palace, of course, and I’ll see you again later?”

Clockwork nodded. “I will be in the library until I need to go see the high council.” He left, and Cassiopeia returned to sitting on the throne, her face smoothed back into a professional, neutral expression. 

As soon as Clockwork left the scene, Danny turned invisible and intangible before flying through the portal and into the scene. He had learned his lesson a long time ago about messing with the past, but it was easier to see what was happening if he was actually there. A breath of green air escaped from the Queen’s mouth as he entered, but she didn’t react — Danny supposed she must be used to people coming onto her lair — and he flew up to the ceiling. 

Just in time, too, because the doors to the throne room were  _ thrown open _ as soon as Danny was up and out of the way. Pariah Dark stormed into the room and stalked right up to the throne, the Fright Knight following warily behind him. 

“I challenge you for the throne, child!” He snarled right in Cassiopeia’s face. 

Queen Cassiopeia didn’t even flinch. She seemed a little tired, if anything. “I refuse your challenge, Pariah Dark. Especially since you seem to be unable to call me by my proper title.” 

Pariah growled. Literally. Even the Fright Knight cowered away from him, though the Queen remained unmoved. “You are not  _ worthy _ of the throne. You are a mere  _ child _ . Duel me, and I will prove my worth.” 

“Mmmmmm, no. If you have nothing else to say, then you can go ahead and leave,” Cassiopeia said, perfectly nonchalant. Danny aspired to have half the composure that the Queen was displaying on a day to day basis. 

“Then I will defeat you anyways!” Pariah shot a beam of bright red energy straight at the throne, making Cassiopeia leap straight upwards and out of the way. The guards rushed forward, but the Fright Knight sent them into their worst nightmares with a single sweep of his sword. The Queen hit Fright Knight with a neon green blast, knocking him out, but Pariah took the opportunity and rushed forward, a smaller blast of energy leaving his palm. It hit the Crown of Fire, knocking it from Cassiopeia’s head to the ground, and Pariah Dark dove for it. 

Before anyone could react, the Crown of Fire was on Pariah Dark’s head, and the ring on his finger flashed — the Ring of Rage. It hadn’t really registered with Danny that the ring hadn’t been on Queen Cassiopeia’s finger the entire time.

Speaking of Danny, he had been frozen in place near the ceiling, not daring to move. This was  _ definitely _ far too important an event in history for him to intervene, and it was taking all of his effort not to do so. If Pariah Dark never became king of the Ghost Zone, then— then—  Clockwork would be happier ,  the ghosts wouldn’t attack him anymore ,  there would be order in Ghost Zone — no. Danny wouldn’t intervene. He had learned his lesson a long time ago about messing with the past, even if it seemed like it would make things better. 

The Ring of Rage gleamed, turning from black to neon green in the presence of it’s fiery counterpart. For the first time since the scene started, Queen Cassiopeia looked slightly unnerved. Time slowed, stopped, reversed. With a flash and a glimpse of hundreds of green clocks — a vision he still wasn’t sure real — Danny was catching his bearings back in the portal room, standing in front of the scrapbook. 

“Time in,” Clockwork said, the two back in Danny’s present. 

“Clockwork!” Danny said, surprised. Then he shook his head, coming back to himself. “I didn’t interfere with anything, I swear.”

“I know, Daniel.” CW turned his attention back to the portal, silencing the scene before letting it continue. They watched as, with the power of the ring and crown combined, Pariah Dark subdued the Queen and brought her outside, where an army of skeletal ghosts was waiting. 

“Pariah Dark was obsessed with challenging the Queen, to the point where she would typically turn them down. In a duel for the throne, the monarch has to take the Crown of Fire off, so that it’s a fair fight — put in place so that the ruler would not be constantly ambushed. As you can see, Pariah Dark used this to his advantage.” 

In the portal, Pariah Dark threw Queen Cassiopeia into the Far-Reach, outside of the Ghost Zone, and a red barrier formed between the two. Slowly, the barrier spread all the way around the zone, encasing it in a sphere like a snow globe. King Pariah laughed as the ghost shield completed itself, and turned away. 

“Being left in the Far-Reach would usually be a surefire way to destroy a ghost,” Clockwork continued. “The lack of ectoplasm would deplete them until they cease to exist, if the eldritch beings didn’t get to them first.”

“So what happened to her?” Danny asked. “She just… ceased to exist, like you said?” 

“No. Queen Cassiopeia knew this as well. After centuries of fending off the beings in the Far-Reach, she knew about them well, more than any other ghost. The barrier itself was ectoplasmic in nature, and she managed to use it to keep herself alive. She also put herself into a sort of dormancy in order to conserve energy and make herself less visible, so that against the background of the barrier, the eldritch beings wouldn’t sense her. It was a good strategy, and she is still there to this day.”

“Really? I would have thought the barrier would have disappeared since Pariah Dark got put into the sarcophagus.” Danny ran his hand backwards through his hair, pushing his fringe out of his face absently. “I guess I’ve seen it before, out there, but I didn’t know where it came from. And it’s not like the border stops the Far-Reach monsters at all.”

“The barrier is tied to the Crown of Fire and the Ring of Rage, not to King Pariah. Only a wielder of both at once can destroy the barrier completely, though the eldritch beings have certainly tried.” Clockwork waved his scepter and the scene in the portal finally ended, the image swirling back to green. “There are certainly weak spots now, where the beings can come through, but it is still strong enough to keep Cassiopeia alive.” 

“Okay, great! That’s — good to know, really good. And she was a good queen right? She had to have been, if you were friends with her.”

“She was my protégée for several decades before I urged her to challenge the White Queen — a truly brilliant student, and it was my honor to teach her. Cassiopeia was my last apprentice before you, Daniel. She was called Queen Cassiopeia the Fair, first for being a fair and just leader, and for her looks only secondly, and I was proud to be her advisor for the majority of her reign. Though she made the record for the youngest monarch in the history of the Ghost Zone at the time, the Queen was very powerful and quite competent.” 

Clockwork looked at him with a perfectly blank expression, his eyes seeming to peer into Danny’s soul. Knowing Clockwork, Danny wouldn’t be surprised if that was actually one of his abilities. “It was certainly a shame when her reign was cut short,” he said carefully. “I ought to warn you — if she happened to return, then Cassiopeia would almost certainly try and challenge you for the throne.” 

Danny nodded slowly, hoping that he was picking up what his mentor was putting down. “Yeah, I guess she’s sort of the rightful queen. Nobody has wielded the crown and the ring together since Pariah was doing his thing though, right?”

“Yes. The crown will only lend its power to the rightful monarch of the Ghost Zone, and the Ring of Rage can drive you mad if you aren’t already — with power and rage, as the name suggests.”

“.....right.” Danny considered this. “Okay. Thanks for the… history lesson, CW. I think I’ve gotta get going.” 

“It was good to see you. Good luck.” 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> On today’s to-do list:  
> -go fetch the ring of rage  
> -go fetch the crown of fire  
> -both of those things are harder than you think

“Are you  _ absolutely _ sure this is a good idea?” Sam asked skeptically as Tucker drove the specter speeder through the Ghost Zone. “Dismantling the barrier isn’t going to kill her or something? She’s not going to wake up and immediately try to fight you? How are we even going to find this lady, the Ghost Zone is literally the size of the earth if not larger, and all that we know is that she’s somewhere around Pariah’s Keep — and even that’s just a guess.” 

“Yes Sam, I’m certain. Queen Cassiopeia is my only chance at this point, and finding her has to be possible, because why else would Clockwork give me that hint?” 

“It could be possible but very very unlikely,” Tucker piped up. “The guy’s played with those kinds of odds before. An upsettingly short amount of time ago, in fact.” 

Danny sighed. “I’m telling you guys that I have to try, at the very least. Even if she doesn’t want to be queen anymore, nobody deserves to be trapped in the Far-Reach for any amount of time. What’s the worst that could happen?”

“You could die,” Sam told him, voice completely flat. 

“The Ring of Rage could drive you insane, making you kill all of your loved ones, begin a reign of tyranny over the Ghost Zone, and finish what Pariah Dark started by taking over the human world too?” Tucker offered. When the other two winced visibly, he just shrugged. “Or, you know, the insanity would make you fall in love with Vlad or something, and we’d have to take you to a mental hospital to live out the rest of your days. I feel like that one’s almost  _ worse _ .”

Sam covered Tucker’s mouth with her hand. “Just stop talking. Just— be quiet.” Tucker made a muffled noise of protest. 

“Well… I’m pretty sure that’s not going to happen, okay? And if I do start going crazy, try to get the ring off and Fenton Thermos me. And then... at that point just take me to CW, I think.”

“Hope this works out for you, Danny, but now I’m  _ really _ worried,” Sam said, and the specter speeder drifted to a stop in Pariah’s Keep. 

“......I hope so too, to be honest.” Danny phased out of the speeder and waited for Sam and Tucker to come out after him. After years of ghost hunting together, they had all become pretty competent, and while Danny didn’t think they would be facing a fight, if they accidentally awoke Pariah or the Fright Knight, he would be glad to have them at his side. Especially since humans were  _ pretty _ sweet to have around in the Ghost Zone. 

Sam and Tucker quickly hopped out of the speeder, both of them armed to the teeth with Fenton-tech weapons. Weapons that they hopefully wouldn’t need, but still. Better safe than sorry, right? 

They padded quietly through the main hall, up the staircase absolutely covered in booby traps (haha — traps), and into the throne room. Now, Danny could recognize which parts of the throne room were still from the original castle, and which parts had been changed by Pariah or the centuries of abandonment. He hadn’t taken the best care of the place himself, and Princess Dora preferred to work from home. The general layout, for one, had stayed this entire time, but the throne itself was missing, replaced by the Sarcophagus of Forever Sleep. In general, the entire aesthetic was different — no more intricate tapestries hanging from white walls, no more nice seafoam green carpets on the floor. Everything was now tinted black and red, which — yikes. 

And here they came upon problem number one: the Ring of Rage was locked inside of the sarcophagus as well, still on Pariah’s finger. Danny was reasonably confident about his ability to take on Pariah Dark without the crown — the ring didn’t lend any extra power, just a lot of anger and some extra determination and ambition, if you needed that kind of thing. With Pariah at the strength of, say, a good bit more than Fright Knight, and with a few extra years of training under his own belt, Danny was pretty sure he could take the guy out. 

Still, he would rather not repeat  _ that _ particular battle, not to mention how much time and energy the whole thing would take. In fact, he would really rather go through this thing with as little incident as possible. 

“Okay guys, I hope this works,” Danny said, approaching the sarcophagus warily. He turned his hand intangible and put it up against it, and frowned when it didn’t go through. “Well, it didn’t work.” 

Sam rolled her eyes. “Try turning human, idiot.” 

“Right.” Twin rings of white light passed over Danny’s body, switching him back into a human. He kept himself carefully at the edge of transforming back, just in case, and carefully reached through the sarcophagus, holding his breath. 

Once his arm was inside proper, he huffed out a breath. “My fucking arm is asleep, I can barely feel anything.” Danny pulled his hand back out and rubbed the feeling back into it with a sigh. “I’m going to try one more time, and then I’ll try to open the sarcophagus, okay?” 

“Mmkay, good luck dude,” Tucker said. 

Danny reached back into the sarcophagus, slightly less tense now that he knew the door wasn’t going to burst open and release Pariah just from him reaching through it. Mostly hoping that his fingers were doing the right thing, he grappled around until he was pretty sure he was holding the ring, and tried to pull it out. The ring didn’t leave the box. Danny’s fingers spontaneously stopped holding onto it without his permission. The Ring of Rage clattered to the floor of the sarcophagus. 

“ _ Fucking ancients _ ,” Danny swore, pulling his hand back out with a wince. “Are you  _ serious _ . Okay, well, the ring isn’t on his finger anymore, at least, so I think I’m going to just open the damn box. Can you guys stand ready with the thermos so that you can grab him as soon as the door is open? I’ll get the ring, we can pop him back in, and we’ll be on our way.” 

“You got it, dude.” Tucker dug through his backpack and tossed a Fenton Thermos to Sam, who caught it with a grin. To Danny, he threw the Skeleton Key, which they had borrowed (read: stolen) from Vlad earlier that morning. 

“Thanks, Tuck. Okay, I’m going ghost!” Once returned to ghost form, Danny inserted the key into the lock on the sarcophagus and opened the door. His eyes immediately skated over Pariah’s body and scanned the floor for the ring. There — right next to the guy’s boot. 

“Who  _ dares _ wake me from my eternal slumber!?” Pariah bellowed upon opening his eyes. Danny darted out of the way, just in time for the beam from Sam’s thermos to hit Pariah Dark in the face and suck him inside. 

“Geez, you’d think the guy didn’t  _ want _ anyone to wake him up,” Tucker joked, tossing and catching his own thermos with a grin. 

“If I was allowed to chill in a box that let me sleep for centuries, I’d be pretty upset if somebody woke me up too,” Danny said, scooping up the ring from the floor. He dropped it into the thermos at his waist without activating it, not wanting it to be in contact with his skin for too long. Valerie had worn it for an hour or so and been fine, but Danny didn’t want to risk it. “Okay guys, you can put him back.” 

“Alright, 3, 2, 1.” Sam opened the thermos again and pressed the release button, flinging Pariah Dark back into the sarcophagus with impeccable aim. Danny slammed the door shut, ignored the shouted threats, and locked it. “Hey, that was actually easier that we thought it would be. Usually these things go horribly wrong.”

“Sweet! Nice shot, Sam, by the way.” Danny drifted back down to them and landed on the ground with a little poof of dust. “This place is gross, I can see why I don’t live here. Let’s blow this popsicle stand, huh?” 

-=-=-=-

Problem number two: electric boogaloo was up — aka, dealing with Vlad. Although the older man had changed his ways a bit (you know, got another, much larger cat and named it Jack, had a redemption arc, decided to actually focus on running Vladco and being a decent mayor), he was still fucking annoying to deal with. Evil or good, Vlad remained irritating and mostly unhelpful at every turn. 

“Ah, Daniel! To what do I owe the pleasure, little badger?” 

“Wow, I almost forgot how annoying you were since that last time we had to interact,” Danny said dryly. He really wished Sam and Tucker were around, but Vlad was determined to take business trips in annoyingly far away places such as New York. Where he apparently had an entire building.  _ Ugh. _ “Really wish I could continue to live in ignorance, but here I am.” 

“If you came here  _ only _ to distract me from my  _ very _ important work, I’m afraid I will have to ask you to leave. Security?” 

“No, no, stop that.” Danny waved a hand through the air and Vlad grinned. “Unfortunately, I actually came to talk to you for important reasons.” 

“And what might those be?” 

Danny sighed. “You still have the Crown of Fire, right? Can I have that back?” 

“Of course you can, little badger. I would be happy to lend it to you.” Vlad let out a mocking little sigh of his own. “Unfortunately, I left it in my mansion in Colorado, and I’m afraid I will not be returning there for at least several more months. Did you need it for anything in particular?” 

“Um, duh,” Danny said with a roll of his eyes. “I’m the ghost king, I need my crown to do shit with. Where in your mansion is it?” 

Vlad visibly paled, but his voice stayed smooth. “Oh, what a shame — I’m afraid I simply can’t quite remember where I put it. My manor is quite large, you see, but I will certainly look for it next time I’m there.” 

So Vlad was obviously lying — he definitely knew where in his mansion the Crown of Fire was, if it was even in Colorado to begin with. “Yeah, sure you will. Or maybe you’ll forget to look for it twice, realize it’s not even there once I force you into it, and then — oops! Turns out it was in your briefcase the entire time. Fuck you, asking was just a formality anyways.”

“Now Daniel, no need to be so rude. I’m sure a friend of mine can help us out, no need to go storming off.” Vlad turned ghost, making the entire room dark for a moment — the opposite of Danny’s bright flash of light. He seemed to fidget with a device on his belt for a few moments, and with a faint crackling noise, Fright Knight appeared in the room. So this was why the Soul Shredder wasn’t in the keep, huh? 

“Plasmius. Why did you call me here?”

“Oh, Fright Knight! How convenient it is that you just showed up. If you could  _ please _ do me a  _ huge _ favour and see if you can find a certain locked box for me? It should be on a column in my Colorado lab. It would be oh so lovely, since you can teleport unlike the rest of us.” 

“An simple errand. Why don’t you just make…. this boy do it?” Fright Knight finally turned to Danny, and had to do a double take. “Oh — King Phantom! Deepest apologies, your majesty. I will go fetch the box at once.” And he vanished in a cloud of smoke. 

Danny elected to just completely ignore that. “So you did know where it was this entire time,” he said. His voice wasn’t even accusing at this point — he was used to this and tired of it. 

“I would rather you simply have it than have you go rummaging through my things,’ Vlad answered. 

Fright Knight returned in just a few moments, holding an intricately carved stone box. He handed it to Vlad, who in turn gave it to Danny. Danny — well, he didn’t feel the most comfortable opening it in front of both Vlad and the Fright Knight, who would inevitably realize exactly what he had been sent to fetch — but he really didn’t trust Vlad not to give him something random in a nice box. 

The Crown of Fire was sitting neatly inside the box, on a cushion of aerogel and ectoplasm. Fright Knight audibly gasped, and Danny bit back a sigh as he casually put the crown into place just above his head, where it floated ominously. It sent a comfortable sizzle of power coursing through his body, and seemed like… vaguely sentient. The crown didn’t like Vlad, registered the Fright Knight as a threat despite the guy’s almost annoying groveling, and decided it was quite comfortable where it was. Danny mentioned Cassiopeia to it, mentally, and the fire crackled in excitement. Good — the crown was on his side. It liked the ring significantly less, and Danny honestly shared the sentiment. 

“Okay, sweet. Bye, people.” Danny made to fly intangibly out of the building, when Vlad stopped him. 

“Wait just second, little badger. I’m still waiting to hear when I’m getting that crown back.” 

Danny fixed Vlad with a flat glare. “You’re not.  _ I’m _ returning it to the monarch it actually belongs to, and if you still want it after that, you can challenge her for it. As things are, it’s not yours, and if anything it’s mine, because I’m the king.  _ Goodbye _ .” 

He skipped past Vlad’s “wait a  _ second— _ ” and flew through the wall, turning towards home. Then, before he could actually get some speed up, Vlad caught his ankle. 

‘ _ What. Plasmius. _ ” Danny ground out, turning back around to face Vlad. His eyes burned green. 

“I challenge you for the ghost throne,” Vlad said simply. 

“I refuse your challenge, as I have much more important things to do right now. Fuck off, we are in  _ New York. _ ” 

Vlad shrugged, and they both turned invisible. “Don’t worry, I’ve been studying up on how this works.” 

Suddenly, the power of the crown became incredibly helpful. Danny could sense Vlad charging up an invisible ectoblast, and he managed to portal them into the Ghost Zone before the guy even shot it, and was still able to doge out of the way. He formed a ghost shield in front of himself with a frown. 

“Now Plasmius, I thought we were past this whole attacking thing.” 

“This isn’t about Maddie, young Daniel. This isn’t even about you. It’s not even about the throne, or taking over the Ghost Zone — no, I just want that crown. All of this ends if you promise to give it back.” 

“And I said you could take it up with Queen Cassiopeia once she returns, asshole. Chill out.” He sensed Vlad starting to charge up another go, so Danny opened a portal back to the human world and flew through. “Ciao, bitch,” he said, and closed the portal behind him. Vlad probably would chase after him, at least — it would take enough time for him to find a natural portal, and surely the guy was business tripping in NYC for a reason. 

So. That actually went better than he thought it was going to. Fabulous.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hope you enjoyed! Please leave a comment! Remember I am still looking for a beta reader :)


	3. Chapter 3

“Sweet new bling, Danny,” Tucker complemented as soon as he flew back into the Specter Speeder, which was waiting in the Fentons’ lab. Danny had gotten a few stares as he turned visible to fly back into Amity — did the people of Amity Park even know Phantom was the Ghost King? Probably not, actually. As soon as he was inside the speeder, Tucker started the engine and set them off into the GZ. 

“Thanks, Vlad tried to challenge me for it.” 

“And he didn’t win, I see,” Sam said, looking him up and down for injuries. 

“Well, it was more that I told him to fuck off and then left. No big deal.” Danny shrugged.

“Well now we have to actually find the chick, which will probably be the hardest part yet,” Sam told him with a frown. “Any brilliant ideas, or helpful advice from CW for that one?” 

Danny winced. “I’m pretty sure I have to put the ring on.”

“Um, dude,  _ what _ ?” Tucker asked, looking flabbergasted. “I thought you were trying to put off wearing that thing for as long as possible! It makes you go insane and violent and shit!” 

“Val wore it for like, a few hours and was fine!” Danny protested. 

Sam gave him an unimpressed stare. “During the short time that Valerie was wearing the ring of rage, she got into like, three fights, had a suit upgrade and immediately went after you. And before you bring up Vlad, while  _ he _ was wearing it, he tried to kill your dad repeatedly, tried to steal an extremely powerful and potentially fatal power-suit, and presumably helped fight a skeleton army. That thing is no joke.”

“Both of them did those things all the time anyways.”

“Not to agree with goth and vegan over here, but those are all pretty extreme versions of their normal activities.” Tucker endured Sam’s immediate retaliation via elbowing him in the ribs with a pained grimace. “Are you sure you have to?” 

“Yeah…. unfortunately.” Danny rubbed the back of his neck. “If it’s just a more extreme version of what I’m doing anyways, how bad can it be?” 

He tipped his thermos over and dropped the ring into the palm of his hand before throwing it to Tucker. “You know, just in case”. Before he could second guess himself, and even with the crown on his head Strongly Protesting, Danny slid the Ring of Rage onto his finger. It fit perfectly. 

Immediately, he was bombarded with insistent mental suggestions from the ring, sort of in the same flavor and vein as intrusive thoughts. If Danny hadn’t practiced throwing off overshadowing for  _ ages and ages _ , he probably wouldn’t have recognized the thoughts as being not his own. As it was, they were….. Bad. 

_ You never punished Vlad for what he did, what he still does. Trying to steal the crown from you is treason, worthy of punishment by death anywhere in the world. Your parents tried to dissect you for years — don’t you think they should be taught a lesson? Threatening and shooting at their own child is abusive and sociopathic at best. These friends of yours, they always seem to leave you to get hurt, don’t they? Doesn’t that just seem awfully suspicious? And even now they have their weapons pointed at you, about to turn against you, wouldn’t it be better if you  _ **_turned against them first?_ **

“Fuck fuck fuck fuck,” Danny groaned, holding his head. The thoughts — they didn’t hurt, and they made a little bit too much sense, and they were a smidge too familiar. “This is bad, this is really bad, fucking,  _ focus _ .” 

**Find The Queen** , said the crown, in the most tangible thought it had given him all day. It drowned out everything from the ring, giving Danny some space in his own mind.  **That’s What You Want.**

“Okay. Okay.” Danny opened his eyes slowly to see the concerned expressions on Sam and Tucker’s faces. When he made eye-contact with him, they both flinched away. “I think I’m good. Is everything okay?”

“....your eyes are red,” Sam told him shakily. “That hasn’t happened for a long time, but usually it’s when you’re super out of it. Like when Freakshow was controlling you, or — or when we saw Dan.”

“Are you sure you’re good dude? You sort of freaked out after you put the ring on,” Tucker said. 

Danny rubbed his hands over his face. “Yeah, I’m—” he winced. “Not great, but this is manageable. It’s power, and it sure fucking feels like it’s coming from me, but it’s just  _ slightly _ off, so it’s more of an impending uncanny-valley sensation in all of my bones, and it feels…. Bad. I can sense where the queen is now, at least. Follow me, I’ll fly in front of the speeder.” 

He phased through the front of the Specter Speeder and led upwards, towards the edges of the Ghost Zone. Danny was going as fast as he could, the crown helping him out, and Tucker was having a hard time keeping up. 

“Shit dude, slow down!” Tucker called through his earpiece. Danny screamed, letting out a bright red ghostly wail, and slammed into the base of an uninhabited island to stop. His fists burned with bright red fire — not red in the way normal fire was — but a cold red. The entire thing moved forward by several meters before Danny turned around and dived into the speeder, tearing the ring off of his finger. 

“I. Hate. That. Thing.” Danny panted, hands on his knees. “Ancients, I fucking hate it. It makes me so angry, I’m going to scream, fucking fuck.”

“Danny, calm down and take a breather, okay?” Sam said as softly as she could. She got down from her seat and knelt next to Danny on the floor, wrapping her arms around him gently. After Sam gave him a look, Tucker stopped the speeder and kicked the ring away before doing so as well. 

“Hey man, hey, you’re okay. We’re good, yeah? We’re just going to sit here and breathe for a bit so you can get it under control, that’s what we’re going to do, kay? Cool, please chill out.” 

After another few moments, Danny was able to get his breathing under control and calm down. “Sorry you guys, I don’t know what came over me. We can — we can keep going now.”

“Do you remember where to go, even without the ring on?” Sam asked, still visibly worried. “I think it would be best if you didn’t put it back on, at least for a while longer. 

Finally, Danny looked back up at them, and Tucker and Sam made eye-contact and breathed a simultaneous sigh of relief. Danny Phantom’s eyes were ectoplasm green once again. 

“I… I think I do but. But I dunno, you guys. I can’t— sorry, I can’t really…. my mind is kind of spazzing right now, I’m.” He paused to breath. “Sorry. I— can. Thinking isn’t working, really, right now. A lot of energy. Sorry to — I’m not putting the ring back on, yet. …..sorry.”

“Stop apologising dude,” Tucker scolded lightly. “We can take a break for a little while longer, if you want. There’s no hurry, we have weeks, still. You’re the one who wanted to do this entire thing today, but we don’t have to . We could even mark this spot down and come back to try again tomorrow, if you want.”

“No, no, I can get this finished today. I’m ready, we can go again.” Not letting them protest, Danny flew back out of the speeder, going onwards yet again, much more slowly this time. They made their way through the GZ, weaving between islands and going, as far as any of them could tell, in roughly the same direction as before. 

After another five or ten minutes though, Danny looked around and groaned into his earpiece. “I’m coming inside,” he warned, and phased back into the Specter Speeder. “We’re fucking lost, I seriously don’t know where we’re going anymore. I’ve had enough of a break — I’m putting the ring on again.” 

“Are you sure that’s a good idea, Danny?” Sam handed him the ring hesitantly. “We really don’t have to keep on going.”

“I have to,” Danny said, gritting his teeth. “We’re at least finding her today — after that? I don’t know, but I’m not stopping yet.” 

He slid the ring back on his finger and shuddered as the feeling returned — not as bad as it had been, but worse than the first time Danny had put the ring on. It was anger, wrath, rage, thrumming through his entire body, but mostly in his bones, directed at everyone and everything. So much rage that his bones itched with it, they itched like  _ fire _ , made him want to tear through his own flesh and everyone else’s.  _ Focus, focus, focus focus focusfocusfocusfocus _ !

The Crown of Fire obliged, since it hated the ring about as much as Danny did, if not more.  **The Queen** , it told him helpfully, and Cassiopeia’s position pinged as if on a radar. 

“Let’s go. Tell me if I’m going too fast again.” And with that, Danny sped out into the GZ, leading them forward. The ectoplasm green around them was getting steadily less bright, and they could just about detect a red glow in the distance. They continued on, Danny speeding ahead, and pausing to blast the air when Tucker told him he was going too fast. The release of energy seemed to calm him down a bit, but the rest of the crew worried over the bright red color. 

It was another fifteen or so minutes at full speed before they reached the barrier, which honestly looked like a bright red ghost shield, cracked in places. Danny screamed bloody murder upon seeing it, and the cracks grew as he pulled off the longest ghostly wail he had ever managed. Slowly, smaller cracks spread through the entire wall. 

His wail petered off into hoarse yelling, and Danny slammed his fist furiously into the barrier. With a crackle, it  _ shattered _ .

-=-=-=-

Tucker pulled the Specter Speeder up alongside Danny and pulled him inside, taking the ring off of his finger with a grimace. Danny groaned, tried to roll over only for Tucker to be in the way, gave up, and blinked open his eyes — bright green, thank goodness, if a bit hazed over. 

The barrier between the Far-Reach and the Ghost Zone dissipated into nothingness, as far as the eye could see. Which, with the lack of ectoplasmic fog all the way out here, was  _ very _ far, far enough that it began to curl back around. There was a ghost curled up not very far away, with dark gray skin and pale green hair, and glowing faintly enough that it could  _ not _ be healthy. Tucker pulled up along her as well, and let Sam tug her inside this time. The queen didn’t stir. 

They closed the doors of the Specter Speeder and drove farther out into the Far Reach. All the lights inside were turned off, anything that might give off light on the outside too. The speeder simply flew into the abyss. Sam picked up the ring, and Tucker opened the door, and the Ring of Rage was hurled out into the Far-Reach, further than any ghost dared to explore. The door closed again, and the Specter Speeder made like it’s name and sped off towards the Clocktower. 

Honestly? Good riddance. 

-=-=-=-

By the time the speeder reached the citadel, Danny was awake and coherent, and Cassiopeia was at least stirring. Clockwork met them outside, his hood down around his shoulders, and let Danny greet him with a hug before gently removing the Crown of Fire from his head. Danny sagged, but let him — he had become used to the crown’s presence and power, but CW obviously needed it for something. 

Indeed, Clockwork gave the crown to Cassiopeia instead, who finally made a faint noise and opened her eyes. Upon seeing Clockwork, she lurched forward and wrapped him in a hug as well. 

“Hello again, dear girl,” Clockwork murmured when she pulled away. “It’s certainly good to see you again.”

“ _ Clockwork _ ,” Cassiopeia sighed. Her hand flew up to touch the Crown of Fire, almost reverently. “Pariah came, and then— how long has it been?” Her eyes finally registered Sam and Tucker, who were helping Danny stay upright. “Who — what’s going on?”

“It’s been nearly five millennia since Pariah first began his reign. It ended just over two millennia ago, and there was anarchy until about three years ago. This is my newest student, Phantom, and his friends. He broke your record for youngest monarch.”

“Lovely meeting you, your majesty.” Danny bowed respectfully. 

“Oh please,” she said with a weak laugh. “None of that, King Phantom — especially since I’m clearly not queen anymore. Cassi is fine. Why am I wearing this and not you, huh?” Cassiopeia reached for the crown on her head and tried to take it off, and almost immediately fell over. 

“That’s why,” Danny told her dryly. “We wanted to wake you up. You can keep it, anyways. Hope I’m also about to break the record for shortest reign.”

“Not quite — the shortest reigning monarch ruled for a total of four hours before having their crown knocked off by a rioting crowd,” Clockwork cut in. 

Danny shrugged. “Well then.”

“You’re abdicating?” Cassiopeia looked shocked. “Now? To me?”

“Uh, yeah, I guess.” He brushed off his friends’ hands and drifted a little bit closer. “I never really wanted to be king, I fought and beat Pariah before I even knew challenges for the throne were a thing. You know, and I have other stuff I have to do. I’m a halfa, you see.”

“Also he has a sacrifice-y hero complex,” Sam cut in with a sigh, blunt as ever. “As soon as he heard about what happened to you, he decided he had to save you whether you still wanted to be queen or not. Now he’s just hoping you’ll take the crown so that ghosts will leave him alone.”

“Well, if you’re certain. I would have challenged you for the throne eventually, anyways, so I suppose this just saves me the trouble.” She trailed off for a moment before treating them to a grin. “Though, I certainly can’t be queen proper right now, I’m afraid. I’ll probably stay at the citadel for the next few weeks, so if you change your mind feel free to come challenge me. I’ll be sure to give you an easy win.”

“Not a chance,” Danny said, relieved. 

“You got it from here, right CW?” Tucker asked, stepping forward to grab Danny before his friend literally toppled over. “Okay, great. Come on, man, we gotta get you home.”

“Oh, and— Clockwork?” Sam said, hesitant. 

“Yes, Miss Manson?” Clockwork definitely knew what she was about to say, but she plowed on anyways. 

“We threw the Ring of Rage into the Far-Reach. That thing sucks.”

“Fuck yes!” Cassiopeia cheered. “It really fucking does!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that wraps things up. Stay tuned for In Burgess in another two weeks, everyone. Hope you enjoyed this little journey with me! <3
> 
> Short plug — I don’t usually but why not ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯ if you don’t want to wait two weeks for something Jamie-centric, I wrote “golden light and what comes with it” which. Very Much Jamie-centric. And then I’ve been doing some radiodust things recently which have been fun, but I feel like there’s less overlap in audiences there. Love you guys!!

**Author's Note:**

> I edit my own stories, all mistakes are my own. No, I don’t want to know about them, I write these for fun, thanks. Comments and kudos are much appreciated though!
> 
> come talk to me on discord: https://discord.gg/PNFNgxA


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